Mingling acute observation with often wild speculation, it offers a fascinating view of the world as it was understood in the first century ad, whether describing the danger of diving for sponges, the first waterclock, or the use of asses milk to remove wrinkles. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of t. As one of the largest and most comprehensive surviving works from the roman empire, pliny the elders natural history offers a rare glimpse into the scholarship of the ancient world. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny the. Read, highlight, and take notes, across web, tablet, and phone. In sum there are in this book of histories and observations four. I ran a first proofreading pass immediately after entering each book, so that the text of all the books is quite good already. Topics included are the mathematics and metrology of the. In thirtyseven books internet archive bookreader pliny s natural history. He is known for the first english translations of several works by livy, pliny the elder, and plutarch, and also for translating william camdens britannia into english. Internet archive bookreader plinys natural history. If you are generating a pdf of a journal article or book chapter, please. As a guide to the cultural meanings of everyday things in ancient rome it is unparalleled. In 37 books, pliny the eldernot to be confused with his nephew, pliny the youngercovers botany, zoology, astronomy, geology, geography, mineralogy, and how each of these interact with roman life.
Pliny the elder 2379 ce produced in his natural history a vast compendium of roman knowledge. Concentrating on plinys accounts of foreign lands and peoples, monsters, and barbarians, trevor murphy demonstrates the political significance of this. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Questia read the fulltext online edition of natural history of pliny vol. Buy plinys natural history in thirtyseven books on. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the natural history of pliny. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover all ancient knowledge. Finally, and perhaps more crucially, it was precisely around plinys books on botany and. Pliny the elder naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny. Hide browse bar your current position in the text is marked in blue.
As a detailed study of the human animal, described by its author as the raison detre of nature, book seven of the elder plinys natural history is crucial to the understanding of the work as a whole. The natural history by pliny the elder free at loyal books. Philemon holland 1552 9 february 1637 was an english schoolmaster, physician and translator. The natural history of pliny volume 6 digital collections. Pliny the elders natural history, from firstcentury rome, is the most important surviving encyclopedia of the ancient world. The biodiversity heritage library works collaboratively to make biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community. My ideal natural history would therefore be for penguin to publish all thirtyseven volumes, yet with copious footnotes so as to learn the accuracy of what pliny says and understand those things that he may have taken for granted. He served as cavalry officer in germany and governor procurator in spain, and at the. Publication date 1938 topics natural history publisher. If you are generating a pdf of a journal article or book chapter, please feel free to enter the title and.
Drawn entirely by zelinsky and derived from pliny the elders celebrated natural history, this book tells the tale of lion and stoatthe two greatest artists who ever livedwho compete for immortality. The silurus of pliny is perhaps a species of cuviers genus schilbe, although true siluri are found in the nile. The world, and this whatever other name men have chosen to designate the sky whose vaulted roof encircles the universe is fitly believed to be a deity, eternal, immeasurable, a being that never began to exist and never will perish. Life born into the municipal aristocracy of comum, pliny plihnee the elder followed an equestrian career.
The elder pliny on the human animal mary beagon oxford. This was an encyclopaedia of 37 books which covered the natural world. His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. Plinys historia naturalis natural history is a vast encyclopaedic work and the only book by him to have survived. The numbers below refer to the book roman number and paragraph arabic number. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny, vol i. Pliny the elders natural history trevor murphy oxford. Buy natural history penguin classics reprint by pliny the elder, john healey, john healey isbn. This book is available with additional data at biodiversity.
Direct observation, informed speculation and common knowledge are combined to present a key snapshot of ancient thought and the romans perspective on the. American museum of natural history handbook series no. Pliny the elder wrote many works of history and biography, but he is best known for his book called natural history which gives moderns a good idea about the thinking of the ancients about biology, science, and medicine. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Naturalis historia is a book about the whole of the natural world in latin by pliny the elder, a roman author and naval commander who died in 79 ad. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to pliny. In addition, however, it provides valuable insight into the extraordinary complex of ideas and beliefs current in plinys era, many of which have resonances for other eras and cultures. Covid19 is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation. Naturalis historia is an early encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder it is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover all ancient knowledge. The only translation of plinys natural history which has hitherto appeared in the.
We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. Although pliny did not distinguish between fact, opinion, and speculation in his 37volume treatise, he can be credited with. At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century, the rediscovery of classical greek and roman texts prompted critical study of ancient and contemporary knowledge about the natural world. Pliny himself died while investigating the volcanic eruption that destroyed pompeii in ad 79, and the natural curiosity that brought about his death is also very much evident in the natural history a book that proved highly influential right up until the renaissance and that his nephew, pliny the younger, described as full of variety as. This is a fascinating book, yet is only a selection and a small one at that of plinys great work. The name coracinus has been applied to more than, one fish of a sooty colour. During the renaissance period, a variety of intellectual and historical developments shaped natural history as a discipline. He served as cavalry officer in germany and governor procurator in. This extraordinary work was originally composed and. The world, and this whatever other name men have chosen to designate the sky whose vaulted roof encircles the universe is fitly believed to be a deity, eternal, immeasurable, a being that never began.
Pliny the elder, natural history loeb classical library. Internet archive bookreader pliny s natural history. Details plinys natural history in thirtyseven books biodiversity. According to unnatural history, anyway, the warsaw basilisk was chronicled by one george caspard kirchmayer in his pamphlet on the basilisk 1691. In ad 77, pliny published his famous 37volume work naturalis historia or natural history. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny volume 2 of 6, by pliny the elder this ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the united states and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. In thirtyseven books internet archive bookreader plinys natural history. Pliny the elder, the natural history john bostock, m. This volume has margins with some fews cuts, the quality of the images are very high, and the volume has not any watermark of the sponsor. Upon this occasion we must not omit to mention the admiration that is lavished upon this plant by the gauls.
On the trail of the warsaw basilisk history smithsonian. Natural history, encyclopaedic scientific work of dubious accuracy by pliny the elder, completed in 77 ce as naturae historiae and conventionally known as naturalis historia. Direct observation, informed speculation and common knowledge are combined to present a key snapshot of ancient thought and the romans. Natural history pliny project gutenberg selfpublishing. Although pliny did not distinguish between fact, opinion, and speculation in.
Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of. He was a roman author and natural philosopher who wrote naturalis historia or natural history. Naturalis historia latin for natural history is an encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder. Pliny the elder wrote the worlds first encyclopedia. More information about this seller contact this seller 16. If you are generating a pdf of a journal article or book chapter, please feel. The natural history book vii with book viii 4 pliny the elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position. Unusually, the entire remarkable work it contains over a million words has survived intact it is one of the most substantial ancient works available to modern readers. He claimed to have recorded 20,000 pieces of information, although modern scholars say he underestimated his own output. Museums oldest natural history book now accessible online. This book is available with additional data at biodiversity heritage library.
54 470 485 1266 462 1252 1171 1203 1348 739 1284 1488 1070 424 722 337 882 1358 435 22 857 273 423 1271 125 1495 371 376 663 172 1418 1164 923 568 622 646 157 28 838 1034 1437 1043 609 1461 245 677 1090